Homeowners warned of scams

Police are warning residents to watch out for a group of young people going door-to-door fraudulently asking for money.

Easthampton, Southampton and Northampton police said they received a number of reports late last week and over the weekend of people soliciting money for causes that do not exist.

"We tell people if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is and don't get involved," Easthampton Police Chief Bruce W. McMahon said.

Southampton police issued a press release saying that numerous reports were received about a group soliciting in a neighborhood off Pomeroy Meadow Road on Friday. They fled when police arrived on the scene.

In Southampton, a group of young people, saying they were affiliated with Mag-Crew Dynasty Sales LLC, claimed they were University of Massachusetts students selling magazines to raise money for trips, police said. Others said they were raising money to provide books for sick children in a Philadelphia area hospital.

"The group was using a ploy that they were connected to the area and said that relatives lived in the area and identified streets the relatives were supposed to live on," police said in the press release.

In Southampton, any non-profit organization soliciting in town must be registered with police.

In Easthampton, McMahon said that solicitors did not appear to have much success, although police got a few calls from residents.

McMahon said every year police received reports of similar scams and urged residents to use caution.

Northampton police said they received one report over the weekend of a person selling magazine subscriptions that were supposed to be sent to soldiers serving in Iraq.